Judge recalled as a 'remarkable man': John S. Rhoades died Monday while recovering from heart surgery

SCOTT MARSHALL - Staff Writer

SAN DIEGO - A longtime federal judge who presided over lawsuits
related to the investigation of the murder of Stephanie Crowe in
Escondido died Monday while continuing his recovery from heart
surgery.

Senior U.S. District Court Judge John S. Rhoades, 82, had been
hospitalized since June, but "enthusiastically" looked forward to
returning to work on the federal court bench in San Diego, said
U.S. District Court Chief Judge Irma E. Gonzalez.

"He was well-liked by every single person in this courthouse,"
Gonzalez said Wednesday. "They all admired him and really miss
him."

Born March 18, 1925, in Havre, Montana, Rhoades served in the
U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1946 and in the Naval Reserve until 1966.
Senior U.S. District Court Judge William B. Enright said he and
Rhoades lived in adjacent barracks in midshipman school and were
commissioned on the same day but did not realize it until decades
later.

"He was a remarkable man - very gifted, very well-read," Enright
said of Rhoades. "There wasn't a book you could mention to him that
he hadn't read."

Rhoades received a bachelor's degree in 1948 from Stanford
University and his law degree in 1951 from the University ofCalifornia Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. He worked inthe San Diego city attorney's office from 1952 to 1957, and spentthe next 28 years in private practice before then-President RonaldReagan appointed him to the federal bench in 1985.

Married for more than 50 years before his wife's death last year
and the father of five grown sons, Rhoades had a "very strong
family" and for many years opened his home to U.S. servicemen for
Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, Enright said.

Fluent in Spanish, Rhoades also performed charity work in
Mexico, Enright said.

Enright and Gonzalez said Rhoades' work on the bench earned him
the respect of attorneys and judicial colleagues as well.

Among the noteworthy cases over which Rhoades presided were
lawsuits filed against Escondido police and county prosecutors in
connection with the initial investigation of the January 1998
stabbing death of 12-year-old Stephanie Crowe of Escondido.

Stephanie's older brother and two of his friends were charged
with her murder, but DNA evidence implicating another man prompted
the dismissal of the charges about a year after the slaying. The
state attorney general's office later concluded the three
youngsters were not involved with the killing and prosecuted a
transient, Richard Raymond Tuite, instead.

Tuite was convicted in 2004 of voluntary manslaughter for
Stephanie's death and was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Rhoades threw out most of the lawsuits the three originally
accused boys and their families had filed against police and
prosecutors, prompting appeals that still are pending.